RWBY: Storm Rising
by General Texas
Summary: Four students, each with a story of his own, all with a shared power. A shield-bearer with attitude, a swordsman with bad luck, a soldier with a fiery temper, and a knight with a dark past. All the while, a storm is rising, darkening all hope for the future. Rated T for violence. Occurs in Volume 1.
1. Chapter 1

(CN: Odysseus, 3rd person)

In the middle of downtown Vale, not that many people were actually walking around. For that reason, no one was there to witness the theft at a local weapons store. The young man codenamed Odysseus was glad for that, simply for the reason that it would take a lot longer for the cops to catch him.

Graceful like a predator, Odysseus opened the shack door and entered with the few men who chose to follow him. The shopkeeper, a burly man with a plethora of tattoos, a black moustache, and a balding head of dark brown hair. His warm brown eyes greeted Odysseus's dark green ones, ignoring the dark green hood over his head.

"Not many people come around here after hours nowadays," the keeper sighed. "Though it seems like you're bringing a whole party here. Is there any way I can help you?"

"Actually, it's you who might need a little help," the teenaged assassin corrected as he pulled out a dangerous-looking gun on the gentleman. The middle-aged salesman stepped back, eyes crossing as they gazed down the barrel of the weapon aimed at his nose. "Weapons. Now. Or would you prefer me to pull the trigger, send what remains of your disintegrated head splattering over the aisle behind you?"

Total fear racked the salesman's body as his eyes rolled back in his head, collapsing under his own weight. 'Well, that was easy,' Odysseus mentally chimed as he gestured to the men following him to grab as many weapons as they could. That was, after all, the job they'd been assigned: steal as many weapons and as much ammunition as they could carry. Little did Odysseus realize that this robbery was the one that would go wrong.

* * *

(Jason Neuton, 3rd person)

Unbeknownst to the burglars in the shop, there was one young man who could easily blow their plans beyond the edge of the galaxy. Fortunately for them, he was focused on other things, listening to music as he cleaned off a metal disk inscribed with ancient characters as they entered. He was sitting at a wooden desk, mapping out the designs for a second circular device just as the clerk passed out.

The boy, known as Jason, wouldn't remain unaware for long, as one of Odysseus's goons spotted him. Rather foolishly, the crook drew his weapon and demanded that Jason surrender. Of course, the teen didn't notice him, blaring Skillet through his earbuds.

"Take your headphones off, kid," the crook yelled over the music, shoving a G28-model Dust powered pistol against the boy's skull. "You're bugging me."

"Maybe that's the point," Jason pointed out as he pulled his earbuds out. 'Monster' blared through the shop's speakers as the teen hero switched his scroll's music player to Bluetooth.

"Turn that down," the older man attempted to shout over the screaming guitar. Jason kicked up his shield and slung it across his arm, swinging shield first at the aggressor and sending the man flying across the shop. His buddies took a step back when the poor man slammed into another aisle, splintering wood and shredding cardboard and plastic.

While the leader didn't turn to look at the new threat, he did notice and signaled for another of his cronies to take Jason out.

The second bodyguard was better prepared, but he still didn't stand a chance. Jason aimed the flat side of his circular shield at the guy and charged his Aura. The inscriptions on the round weapon glowed a furious red for only a couple of seconds before sending forth a burst of red energy; upon contact with its target, the meter-thick laser picked up the man and sent him through the shop window behind him. The other bodyguards flinched away from the powerful teen hero before them; even Odysseus seemed impressed by the show of power.

"Who's next," Jason smarted off, knowing that he could easily overpower the small force bare-handed. Of course, saying this gave his opponents a boost of morale, leading the bodyguards to draw their swords. The apparent leader, clearly inattentive, just turned back to stealing the unconscious clerk's money.

'Just as I expected,' Jason grinned, the rim of his shield glowing a deadly shade of red. Planting his right foot behind him, the not-Hunter brought his shield almost directly over his back-most foot before slinging it forward, releasing it in such a way that boosted its spin speed. Just like in the Captain America comics he read when he was a child his shield bounced around, beating the thugs to the ground in less than a second before returning to its owner. With his left hand, just like Captain America would, Jason caught the shield by the rim, sliding it back on his right forearm.

"Is that it," he asked himself as he rose to his full height, letting his shield arm dangle at his side. "If you still want to put this store out of stock, speak now and forever hold your teeth." A grenade rolled underneath his feet, pin pulled. The loud crack from the grenade did nothing to deafen him, though the explosion itself put a layer of soot across the boy's face. Jason grimaced as he felt himself sneeze, knocking off the black dust off his body in a cloud.

"You should be careful," Odysseus spoke, neutrality pouring out of his larynx. "Which fights you choose. You might not return from one of them in one piece." Jason shot the criminal a glare, which the teen returned in kind.

"Pick on someone your own size," Jason threatened, glare fading as he realized the redundancy of what he just said. "Was that as stupid as I think it was?"

"Only as redundant as you, my dear," the criminal mind taunted as a green fog engulfed him and part of the surrounding area. Only a second later the fog faded, revealing… no Odysseus, no evidence that he was ever there, only the damage Jason himself had caused and the still-pale clerk. Jason looked out the broken shop window to see –.

"Aww, man," the young hero whined as he recognized the unsurprised blonde Huntress. "I'm a goner."

* * *

(Jason Neuton, 3rd person)

"I hope you realize just how much trouble you're in, young man," the angry teacher from Beacon growled, pacing behind Jason like an enraged tiger. "With that stunt you just pulled, you could've leveled the whole shop, killing everyone inside."

"No, the shield's not strong enough for that," Jason stated as obviously as possible. "The only way I could've destroyed the place was if I'd seen the grenade under my feet. Speaking of which, I'm still picking bits of shrapnel out of my boots. Aww, gosh darn it, I just got these too."

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home after repairing the store you nearly leveled," Glynda mentioned. A gust of wind nearly knocked her off her feet as Jason disappeared for less than three seconds.

"Already done," Jason answered for himself. "Window's fixed, aisle's put back together, soot's dusted up, scorch marks wiped off. All the good stuff. Are we done here now?"

"While I certainly am impressed by how fast you just ran, and even more so by how much you claim to have done, no we are not done. There's someone who'd like to speak with you, no matter how much I disagree." Less than a second after she said that, a white-haired man Jason also recognized entered the room.

"Professor Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon Academy, Hunter extraordinaire, did not expect you to be here," Jason rattled on. "I take it you saw what I did this evening. Yes, I did do all that. Yes, the guys I knocked out will be fine. Yes, I did let one of them escape. Yes, I am capable of redundancy. Yes, I did fix all the damage, and before you ask, no I am not a robot."

"I see," the headmaster sighed, obviously tired. "However, I don't believe I was going to ask you if you were a robot, and quite frankly I haven't asked you anything. Are you perhaps, a telepath?" Jason burst out laughing upon hearing this.

"No, of course not! This is an interrogation, is it not?! I just learn to expect the weird questions that pop out during these kinds of things." Silence took over for a few moments as Jason calmed down from his laughing fit.

"Where did you learn to use a shield the way you did," Ozpin asked. "And how did you retrofit it with lasers?"

"Not lasers, sir," Jason corrected. "I learned to use it by being a fan of Captain America. As for the lasers, that's actually Dust reacting to my Aura when I force a spike. Really, I don't need it, but the Dust helps amplify the power and actually keeps it all where I want it." He sniffed the air. "Hmmm… why do I smell cookies?" One more sniff. "Have you, perchance, seen Ruby Rose today?"

"Excellent guess, though I haven't seen her yet," Ozpin explained. 'Yet?' "I hear she is as good a fighter as you are… is this true?"

"Well… She and I DO attend Signal, so I suppose… I don't really know, sir. She's a geek when it comes to guns, I could take a Death Stalker bare-handed and come out on top in a matter of seconds all with my eyes closed and both hands tied behind my back. The only similarities between us is really just us both being fast and really hyperactive. I haven't really seen her fight, though I've seen her working on her scythe-rifle thingy. It's really cool, though it's not half as cool as a shield that shoots lasers and returns to its owner with magnets –."

"So I've noticed," the professor cut him off. "Do you know her plans after Signal?"

"Actually, yes. She and I've only got two more years left in Signal, and then she's applying to Beacon. I don't know whether or not I'd fit in, infinite Aura pool and all –."

"Hold on. Did you just say you have an infinite Aura?"

"Err…. So I did. Why?"

"Is that how you were able to fight so well?"

"Meh. Not really, I'm just awesome the way I am, infinite Aura or no. The latter's just an added bonus of being me, I suppose."

"Someone of your caliber should have been training with Beacon at a much younger age than you, young man."

"I know. I just –."

"How would you like to train at Beacon," Ozpin cut him off once more.

"I'd like it even more without all the interruptions, but I'd love it there… I think." Ozpin smiled at him, then looked up to Goodwitch, who just looked away in disgust with Jason.

"I suppose I can make an arrangement."

* * *

(Jason Neuton, 3rd person, the next day)

"HEEEEELLP," Jason cried as his older brother Robert chased him down aboard the airship taking them out of Vale. "SOMEBODY HELP! MURDER! MURDER! MERCY MERCY MERCY!"

"YOU LUCKY LITTLE SOB!" Robert Neuton growled. "YOU GOT A CHAT WITH OZPIN AND GOT INTO BEACON WITHOUT ME KNOWING?! I'M GOING TO STRANGLE YOU!"

"HELP ME—." Jason's voice was cut short by Robert putting his brother in a headlock, grinding his knuckles into his brother's skull. "Ach! Calfrope, calfrope, calfrope. Calfrope. Gaaaaahhhh!"

"You deserve that, little man," Robert chuckled, releasing his brother. "I mean, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but right as I get in? Oh, man this is going to be a great year!"

"Ach, my head," Jason stumbled around like a drunk, gripping his head. "Yup, it's going to be a long, long year." Robert chuckled at this as he leaned against the viewing glass aboard the airship.

* * *

–END—

I think I like this format better, writing a note at the end rather than the beginning. I like it.

Anyways, I know I haven't written or posted a lot here. I apologize for that. I also realize that I may not be the most popular author as of this moment. However, I am going to try. This has been in my head way too long, so I've got to get it out. This one actually makes sense, too, so just bear with me.

By the way, to those of you who author for other fandoms (i.e. Assassin's Creed), I may put one of my old stories up for adoption. I've had writer's block for a while now (except for on this one), and I didn't really do any research on those fandoms in the first place, so if you think you can do better than I did, tell me that you'd like to take those old stories a little further and I'd be happy to let you take over.

Number two on my 'by the way' list, I'll explain the 'infinite Aura' thing later on, you might be impressed. As for the kid called Odysseus, that's just his codename (hence the 'CN' before his name at the start of the chapter.

Finally, I'd like to mention that I don't really do that well with third person. First person (or anything that's limited to one POV, for that matter) is more my forte. So, if any of you see a grammar mistake, PLEASE tell me. I am, after all, writing one or two eBooks at the moment, so your mentioning mistakes would really help my writing.

I'll try my hardest to get another chapter out soon, but school really does take a lot of time off of my hands.


	2. Chapter 2

(Maxwell Williamson, 3rd person)

Leaning on one of the windows on the airship, Max was one of those young men who looked at least somewhat attractive yet shouldn't be trifled with. He wore a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt, a pair of black armored jeans, and black steel-toed boots with red embroidery. On both arms he wore gunmetal-gray gauntlets, both of which could quickly transform into machine guns with a fire rate of well over 300 per minute. If that wasn't enough to scare, his current Semblance allowed him to unleash and absorb fire, radiation, and blast force with ease. His looks alone made him appear extremely intimidating, with bright blue eyes glowing with the fires trapped inside him.

Today, though, he didn't appear intimidating. In fact, he seemed… distracted. By what, no one would ever really know, as he never spoke except to further intimidate his foes; otherwise, he normally kept to himself. But that was just it; he was remembering why he changed to the way he is. After all, he wasn't always so cold, so distant, so intimidating. In fact, he used to be open all the time, warm and funny, smart and caring. At that point in his life, he was having numerous Aura bursts, growth spurts for Aura that normally resulted in not only larger Auras but different Semblances.

Before he took on his current persona, he went through five different Semblances, each one more powerful than the other: Invisibility, Speed, Soundwaves, Lightning, and Fire. His older brother, Trevor, was always there to help him grow accustomed to his newfound powers. Trevor was the original owner of Max's current arsenal, the gauntlets, but for an entirely different reason: those gauntlets prevented Aura recharges in an attempt to remove the threat of life-threatening Aura bursts mid-battle. With his Aura already so powerful, and in an attempt to remember his older sibling, Max took on the task of using those gauntlets, later adding on twin barrels and rotating magazines to add to the efficiency of his new weapon. Looking down at his powerful weapons, Max recalled the events leading up to the loss of his brother and his well-timed Aura burst that gave him his current Semblance…

–FLASHBACK—

Christmas Day, just before noon, at a mall in downtown Vale. Max was only two years younger than he currently was. He and Trevor went out to the mall, looking at all the people shopping for last-minute gifts for their loved ones, a family tradition that their deceased parents taught them. The brothers hung out around the large evergreen in the large foyer of the shopping center, staring at an unusually large red box with gold lining and a gold ribbon holding it all together. An unusual sight, though the two weren't just fixed on the box, but on the numerous men dressed as elves around the edges of the foyer.

Just as the clock struck noon, the band of green- and red-clad men drew Dust-powered machine guns on the crowd in the mall foyer. Panic filled the crowd of shoppers in the event, but what frightened them more was the contents of the abnormally large box near the tree. Two of the closer criminal cosplayers opened the massive container to reveal none other than a nuclear bomb. This Christmas should've gone down in a mushroom cloud, but the brothers stood their ground and took out the criminals surrounding the crowd, ordering everyone to get away from the site before something went wrong.

The stronger of the two, Trevor, held up the bomb in an attempt to prevent the gravity-sensitive explosive from dropping and going off. That was their biggest mistake, as neither which one knew about the snipers in the upper levels of the foyer. One well-aimed bullet pierced through Trevor's Aura and tore through his skull, ending the older brother's life in less than a millisecond. Although weaker at the time, Max had no choice but to keep the bomb from tipping over. A stray bullet pierced through the nuclear weapon's metal shell, making the bomb go off, just as Max went through one final Aura burst.

The fire, radiation, and sheer force should've killed the youth, but his Aura protected him. In fact, his new Semblance, the power of a nuclear bomb, took this new force as an opportunity to power up without using up Max's more powerful Aura. Instead of a mushroom cloud, Max's Semblance sucked the weapon's deadly power into the space of a man-sized ball. It all went into the boy's chest as his body glowed with a deadly fire. The glow faded into his eyes as he remembered that his brother was now gone.

The gauntlets he has today flew off of his brother's wrists and onto his own, locking into place. None of the snipers made it out. Period. The criminals had holes burned through their chests by the time Max had calmed down. In exchange for the powers of three nuclear bombs, the young boy lost his brother. Because of his loss, he lost his old personality and his will to trust others.

–PRESENT DAY—

Max snapped out of his dream-like state when he heard the whine of the aircraft's engines as they came in to land. It only took a few seconds for him to remember why he was here: Beacon Academy. He followed the other students off the airship until they were actually off the airship; he then proceeded to split from the crowd, searching for some sort of map.

"Ooh, Sis," he heard a girl's voice squeal; he recognized the squeal, immediately pushing old memories of Signal and his past life out of his mind. "That guy's gauntlets look just like yours!"

"Calm down, Ruby," another familiar voice entered his ears. "They're just weapons. Besides, don't you like your own?"

Max could feel his heart racing in his chest as adrenaline told him to either fly away or break something. His instincts were fighting both his emotions and his memories as he walked along the cement path. Even in the midst of warring with himself, the soldier boy couldn't hide the small dark voice in his head screaming that something bad was about to happen.

* * *

(Simon Andrews, 3rd person)

Simon wasn't the best person to go to for luck. In fact, he almost literally had the worst of it. Now was one of those moments, as after a red-haired girl fell into some perfectionist girl's junk, a young man got in the wrong position as an explosion sent him flying at Simon and his small pack of stuff. At this point, his head was still spinning as the young boy shot him nonstop rapid-fire apologies.

"Shut up already," Simon nearly snapped, brushing his long brown hair out of his face. "I'm still confused as to how a Dust explosion of such a small magnitude could send you flying so far."

"Oh," the kid muttered. "I don't know. Maybe it's just my luck. Either way, I'm—."

"Don't apologize again," Simon cut him off, straightening out his Norse-styled tunic. A few moments of silence passed as they heard the rich girl shouting at the redhead.

"Well, this is awkward," the first-year muttered to himself after clearing his throat. "Err… what's your name?"

"Simon Andrews," he responded. "And yours?"

"Jason Neuton," the young man responded. The white-haired girl brushed by him, looking ready to kill.

"What's with her?"

"Who, Weiss? Eh, that's just her. She doesn't cooperate well with others, being the heiress to that one Dust company and all…"

"Pretty snarky if you ask me."

"I heard that," the two boys could hear the heiress shout.

"Want me to say it again, because I will," Simon returned. She just huffed and continued walking.

* * *

(Jason Neuton, 1st person)

Simon and I kept walking to wherever we were going, finally reaching an auditorium-type… whatever those things are. On the way, I learned that Simon is on his second year here, even though he doesn't have his own team just yet. He also mentioned that he controls thunder and lightning, and can hear things from an immense distance away. I asked him why he has his hair so long, and he mentioned that it's a tradition from his mother's side of the family. I noticed that his hair covered his ears, but I wasn't about to ask why.

I found Robert and invited Simon to stand over with us. As it turns out, the two of them sort of know each other. Ozpin came on stage and gave some sort of speech, followed by Goodwitch, who mentioned that we'd be staying in the ballroom tonight before we went through the initiation process. All I could remember thinking was something along the lines of 'oh, joy'.

And that's where I found myself a few hours later, wearing a white t-shirt and blue shorts. We were about ready to head off to bed when—.

"There they go again," Simon groaned, pressing his pillow to his ears as Ruby, her sister Yang, and Weiss all started arguing.

Robert, earbuds in his ears, put earmuffs over his ears to block out the arguing. Max, headphones over his ears, sighed and turned up the volume on his music. I, on the other hand, was getting increasingly annoyed with the girls' arguing minutes after the candles were blown out.

"That's it," I growled, pulling out a pistol I always kept handy and shoving a magazine in. I then proceeded to get up and march over to the girls' location. Even with my eyes glowing with anger, they were still arguing like politicians. I raised the barrel of the pistol to the roof, clicked off the safety, and pulled the trigger a few times.

The numerous cracks of the gunpowder pistol rang through the ballroom, silencing the girls' argument.

"Thank you," I growled, glaring mostly at Weiss for instigating. "Now get to bed before I actually take aim." At this point, my entire body was starting to glow as I walked back to my spot. Of course, what I had to say seemed to brush on by their ears.

"I think we should do what he says," Ruby muttered worriedly behind me. Weiss scoffed at this.

"So you'll listen to him but not to me," the annoying prick in my side demanded.

"Hey, you were the one who started it," Yang mentioned.

At this point I was resting on top of my bed, trying to shut them out.

"Well, it wasn't me who started fighting her sister," Weiss argued. They kept arguing like this for a few more minutes before I couldn't handle it anymore.

"HEY!" I heard a voice shout next to me, making me flinch. "SHUT THE" insert word I'm not about to repeat here "UUUUP! AND GET TO BED!"

"Gah, Christ," Simon whimpered. "Those were my ears before you, like, made them explode."

"Well, you weren't causing a ruckus, now were you," the soldierly voice I now recognized to be Max Williamson countered.

"Could you at least walk over there next time?"

"Could you cover your ears next time?"

"Even if I did, you'd still blast them out—."

A beam of white-hot Aura burst out of my palm, rocketing to the ceiling. The two looked at me with either shocked or annoyed faces.

"Anyone else wanna argue," I challenged loudly over the new silence. "GOOD. I'm glad. Now hit the sack."

' _Tomorrow's going to be a long day_ ,' I thought as my mind wandered to the dream world.

—END—

FINALLY! Golly gee whiz! That was a tough one. Took me, like, a week to do. Not literally, I'm assuming, as I started this one almost directly after the first.

In the meantime, I'd like to state the obvious that I'm uber-excited about RWBY Volume 3 coming out in only a WEEK! This morning, I saw the intro animation on YouTube, and it. Looks. Epic.

Back on this story, I tried to stay in line with who the characters really were. If you guys are confused about Simon, he's a second year who didn't get a team his first year. I'll explain the long hair and Viking tunic later on; it'll actually make sense when I explain it, I promise.

Until next time, I'm signing out. Have a wonderful week everybody.


End file.
